Water Effect?

Heres a question for you about ground effect, prompted by your article, Using Ground Effect, in the October 2015 issue, and specifically the statement: We all should know ground effect is only encountered...well, close to a flat surface, be it liquid or solid, but sometimes we forget.

Editorial Staff

Wednesday, November 04, 2015 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

While fixed-wing aircraft experience ground effect over water, helicopter pilots find it significantly reduced or absent over disturbed water surfaces, requiring more power to maintain a hover.
This reduced ground effect for helicopters over water is due to the water's disturbance creating non-uniform air behavior, akin to fixed-wing aircraft operating over tall grass or rough terrain.
A student pilot expresses frustration with instructors consistently overcontrolling during landings despite positive control exchange, leading to dangerous situations and hindering learning.
The magazine suggests instructors should allow students to make mistakes up to the edge of controllability and advises students to have clear, upfront discussions about when instructor intervention is expected.

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Here’s a question for you about ground effect, prompted by your article, “Using Ground Effect,” in the October 2015 issue, and specifically the statement: “We all should know ground effect is only encountered…well, close to a flat surface, be it liquid or solid, but sometimes we forget.”

After 40-some years of flying (private, CFI, charter, etc.) I took up helicopter flying in 2006. I went into it thinking I was quite familiar with the ground effect, and indeed, it plays heavily on the performance of light (piston) helicopters in a hover. My instructor surprised me one day by stating, “There is no ground effect over water.” He couldn’t explain why, but issued it as a strong warning for me not to expect the same hover performance over water as over solid land. He was insistent.